Getting A Taste Of Police Work

Scout Program Gives Teens A Glimpse Of Officers` Duties

One of Justin Womer`s favorite movies is ``The Untouchables.`` At one point, one of the characters asks another why he became a police officer.

``He keeps asking the guy until finally he answers,`` Justin says. ``The cop says he does what he does because he cares about and wants to help people.``

Justin, 17, is almost sure he wants to be a police officer for the same reason. But to be positive, he joined the Hoffman Estates Police Department`s Explorers Post 806 in September 1989. The program, begun in 1959 by the Boy Scouts, was chartered at the Hoffman Estates department in 1984.

Explorers act as liaisons between the community`s young people and the police department, says Justin, a senior at Fremd High School, Palatine.

The three girls and 10 boys in the program wear uniforms of black pants, shoes and socks and gray dress shirts. Among their duties are patrolling the grounds at festivals, carnivals, mall days and other events and helping people who might be in distress, Justin says.

Although they can`t carry guns or make arrests, Explorers can help in most cases by calling for help (they carry two-way radios) or referring people to the right sources, he says.

``I remember once, at a 4th of July carnival, a gentleman asked me and my Explorer partner for help. When we asked him what the problem was, he said the electricity (in his home) had gone out and that the ice cream in his freezer was melting. We tried to comfort him, but there was not much else we could do for him,`` Justin recalls.

Often Justin is called on to distract and amuse children being fingerprinted for the national I-SEARCH program. This is his favorite community service because he plays the part of McGruff the crime-fighting dog, a character used to teach safety and crime prevention to children.

McGruff`s costume consists of a furry body suit, two paws and a head wearing the crime dog`s trademark fedora. The only concession to the costume`s wearer is a small, cooling fan in McGruff`s mouth. Justin says he is one of the few Explorers who volunteers to climb into the hot, itchy costume.

But it is worth the sacrifice to see the children`s happy faces, he says. ``The kids love McGruff and understand what he stands for: saying no to drugs and crime. I used to say, in McGruff`s rumbling voice, `Take a bite out of crime.` But I stopped after I scared this one kid so badly he cried. So now I don`t talk. I just hand out McGruff badges and coloring books.``

In working with children as McGruff, Justin says, he has learned to expect the unexpected. ``Once, when I was McGruff at Randhurst (Shopping Center`s) Law Enforcement Days, a child came up to me and stamped hard on my foot. It really hurt. But I just jumped up and down and laughed. You definitely have to have patience in this job,`` he says with a grimace.

``Another time I was shaking hands with a boy who pulled off McGruff`s paw.`` Justin responded quickly by tucking his bare hand up into the costume`s furry sleeve. ``I didn`t want him to think that McGruff was a fraud,`` he adds.

Although Justin discovered Explorers through scouting, one doesn`t have to be a scout to join. Young people age 14 to 22 can be members as long as they have no arrest record. Teenagers not involved in scouting can learn about the program through their community police departments or cable-access channels, Justin says.

The Explorer program means more to Justin than patrolling festivals and playing McGruff, he says. Explorers offers him a chance to experience what real police officers do, which beats watching actors play at being cops, he says.

The best opportunity to observe police at work is on the ride-along, which can best be described as a day on the beat of a mobile officer, Justin says. Explorers are allowed to go on two eight-hour ride-alongs every month. There are two rules every Explorer must observe: Always do exactly what the officer says and never get out of the patrol car unless told to do so.

``Sure there are limitations on the ride-along, but there is so much to learn,`` Justin says. ``Just being in the patrol car with an officer lets you know how they are perceived by the community. You realize that they are human and that they risk their lives every day.``

The program`s goal is to ``better acquaint the young people of the community with the law enforcement agency serving the community,`` says Officer Cheryl O`Hara, the program`s adviser and the department`s crime prevention and community relations officer.

``People think that because this is the suburbs there is nothing happening`` in criminal activity, Justin says. ``But although we are not like `Miami Vice,` with officers shooting everything that moves, we are not like the uneventful, little town of `Mayberry R.F.D.,` either,`` he emphasizes.